Detangle hair after sort of mad updo

[Soltimus]

So I went to a theme party last night dressed as a maenad. As I'd sort of forgotten about my costume plans and needed to improvise a bit I made horns out of my own hair. With lots of product in. The problem is now that after taking the horns down (just high pigtails that I sort of wound around themselves) either side of my hair has a nicely matted chunk. It's never been this matted actually and I don't really know what to do.

I've had to wash it a few times to get all the product out (I used a clarifying shampoo from Herbal Essences), hair spray being the biggest problem, and now I'm kind of stuck for things to do regarding actually detangling. I've also misplaced my wide toothed comb... and I found I had almost no conditioner left. So my question is now should I just back away from the hair and wait till I can get supplies for detangling tomorrow? Should I try detangling sprays? Should I take advantage of my lovely supply if coconut oil and just do a really deep oil treatment?

Any ideas?

[Wildcat Diva]

Do you have any mineral oil on hand? This might work. I would also go to the store and get a bottle of cheap conditioner, stat.

[woodswanderer]

The biggest thing is to take breaks if you starting getting mad so you don't overreact and damage your hair. I would probably throw a scarf over my head and go get conditioner today if it were my head. I've never tried detangling with coconut oil. Maybe you could try a very small section and see how it goes.

[Johannah]

Anti-klit spray works wonders for my hair, but I'm not really sure if it'll work for this. I'd go get a conditioner as well.

[RapunzelKat]

Mineral oil and extra virgin olive oil are very helpful for detangling :) If you have either of these, you can just keep adding them to your hair as you go to give it slip. You'll have to wash again once you're done most likely. If you have a particular conditioner you like to detangle with, I'd go get some now, and get to work on detangling.

I'd strongly recommend starting with fingers only. Gently separate the hair into several sections, the run your hand sown the sections to get the hairs thinking about going in the same direction. Next, gently pick out tangles from the bottom up. If you can't separate the hair into sections, start at the bottom, then separate once you get some of the big tangles out. I always detangle dry hair, but if you usually detangle wet I'd stick with the usual routine.

I've detangle matted hair before. It's not fun, and it can take a while (think hours) but if you're careful and gentle your hair will suffer no ill effects. I also heartily agree with woodswanderer's suggestion to take breaks as you go.
Good luck!:D

[Pantha]

Mineral oil and extra virgin olive oil are very helpful for detangling :) If you have either of these, you can just keep adding them to your hair as you go to give it slip. You'll have to wash again once you're done most likely. If you have a particular conditioner you like to detangle with, I'd go get some now, and get to work on detangling.

I'd strongly recommend starting with fingers only. Gently separate the hair into several sections, the run your hand sown the sections to get the hairs thinking about going in the same direction. Next, gently pick out tangles from the bottom up. If you can't separate the hair into sections, start at the bottom, then separate once you get some of the big tangles out. I always detangle dry hair, but if you usually detangle wet I'd stick with the usual routine.

I've detangle matted hair before. It's not fun, and it can take a while (think hours) but if you're careful and gentle your hair will suffer no ill effects. I also heartily agree with woodswanderer's suggestion to take breaks as you go.
Good luck!:D

RapunzelKat, your spot on,

The most important thing is not to use a brush or comb until you can at least section your hair into small manageable amounts and work from the bottom. If I'm dealing with knotty hair I like to try and do what I can with it dry, never try with it wet as you inadvertently cause damage, oil is good rub it on your fingers to so as you make sure you defenatly get the areas your working on, be very patient, and maybe put a film or two on the TV or something so as you don't bet too bored.
Good Luck.

[Soltimus]

Thank you, all! I went ahead and gave it a go again this time with olive oil. It only took me around 10-15 minutes to detangle it all!!! I thought I'd be sitting there for hours and hours but it was more or less hassle free and I could just slowly pull the hairs apart because of all the oil. Olive oil is brilliant!!!

[RapunzelKat]

Thank you, all! I went ahead and gave it a go again this time with olive oil. It only took me around 10-15 minutes to detangle it all!!! I thought I'd be sitting there for hours and hours but it was more or less hassle free and I could just slowly pull the hairs apart because of all the oil. Olive oil is brilliant!!!

Glad you got it detangled so quickly! :happydance: As an added bonus, all that oil will probably leave your hair soft and shiny after the next wash :D

[Wildcat Diva]

Glad you figured out how to make it work out.

[StellaKatherine]

I had that happened after my bachelorette party. I kinda was asked to give free hands to the girls and they curled my hair, teased some and put a bottle of the hair spray. Was nice to just seat there and let them do the magic... Well... It take me 4 hours to go through it afterwards! I almost wanted to cry half way through when I saw the other side of my hair was as bad if not even worse... A week before my wedding day I was wondering if I will have even half of my hair left for the wedding hairstyle ;) I was detangling my hair before going to wash. Have no idea was it right or wrong to do. Washed and deep conditioned and it seemed to be ok after that :)

[meteor]

I find this video really helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJaAgtgIDlE

I agree that the oils and slippy, cone-y conditioners really help. I'd start with washing hair first. Also, I wouldn't attempt it until you get your detangling tool back or find a new one.
Patience is key. It might take many hours. The more patient you are the more hair you'll preserve.

Good luck! :D

[gossamer]

Sigh, I did this last week. Took me about an hour to detangle it all with my fingers enough for me to braid it and go to bed. The next day I finger detangled again, washed with a ton of coney conditioner, and detangled it again after it dried. It seems fine now, but ugh, so annoying! You have all my sympathy.

http://i.imgur.com/4QTt5Eyl.jpg
The section I already detangled is on the right, knotted on itself to keep it away from the other matted section I was working on. The beer helped me relax about the whole debacle.

[meteor]

Awesome, gossamer! Your hair manages to look totally thudworthy even when it's matted. :D
I love the Stella Artois sitting on your table like a hair tool. :lol: Oh well, us, crazy LHC-ers use beer as a conditioning rinse, so why not? :lol: :ale:

[Shibe]

Whenever I get a large tangle, I massage conditioner into the spot and let it soak for a while.

[StellaKatherine]

Awesome, gossamer! Your hair manages to look totally thudworthy even when it's matted. :D
I love the Stella Artois sitting on your table like a hair tool. :lol: Oh well, us, crazy LHC-ers use beer as a conditioning rinse, so why not? :lol: :ale:

:hmm: I should have though about taking some beer when I was detangling my hair, could have made the process less stressy and more relax. 4 hours of detangling and totally sober... was nuts ;)